Anime (アニメ) refers to the animation style originating in Japan. It is characterized by distinctive characters and backgrounds (hand-drawn or computer-generated) that visually and thematically set it apart from other forms of animation. Storylines may include a variety of fictional or historical characters, events, and settings. Anime is aimed at a broad range of audiences; consequently, a given series may have aspects of a range of genres. Anime is most frequently distributed by streaming services, broadcast on television, or sold on DVDs and other media, either after their broadcast run or directly as original video animation (OVA). Console and computer games sometimes also feature segments or scenes that can be considered anime.
Manga (漫画) is Japanese for "comics" or "whimsical images". Manga developed from a mixture of ukiyo-e and Western styles of drawing, and took its current form shortly after World War II. Manga, apart from covers, is usually published in black and white but it is common to find introductions to chapters to be in color and read from top to bottom and then right to left, similar to the layout of a Japanese plain text. Financially, manga represented 2005 a market of ¥24 billion in Japan and $180 million in the United States. Manga was the fastest-growing segment of books in the United States in 2005. In 2020, Japan's manga industry hit a value of ¥612.6 billion due to the fast growth of the digital manga market, while manga sales in North America reached an all-time high at almost $250 million.
Anime and manga share many characteristics, including exaggerating (in terms of scale) of physical features, to which the reader presumably should pay most attention (best known being "large eyes"), "dramatically shaped speech bubbles, speed lines and onomatopoeic, exclamatory typography..." Some manga (a small percentage) are adapted into anime, often with the collaboration of the original author. Computer games can also be adapted into anime. In such cases, the work's original story is often compressed or modified to fit the new format and appeal to a wider demographic. Popular anime franchises sometimes include full-length feature films. Some anime franchises have been adapted into live-action films and television programs.
Case Closed, also known as Detective Conan (Japanese: 名探偵コナン, Hepburn: Meitantei Konan, lit. "Great Detective Conan"), is a Japanese detectivemanga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday since January 1994, with its chapters collected in 105 tankōbon volumes as of April 2024. Due to legal problems with the name Detective Conan, the English language releases from Funimation and Viz Media were renamed to Case Closed. The story follows the high school detective Shinichi Kudo, whose body was transformed into that of an elementary school-age child while investigating a mysterious organization. Generally, he solves a multitude of cases by impersonating his childhood best friend's father and various other characters.
The twelve episodes of the anime aired from March 28, 2007 to June 13, 2007 on AT-X, Chiba TV, Sun TV, TV Aichi, TV Kanagawa and TV Saitama. Six DVD compilations, each containing two episodes of the series, have been released by Media Factory between June 22, 2007 and November 22, 2007. Two pieces of theme music are used for the episodes: one opening theme and one ending theme. (Full list...)
An example of lolicon, an erotic portrayal of young girls. Critics claim that this genre contributes to actual sexual abuse of children, while others have attempted to refute such claims.
